Empress of Malicitia
by Alcyone Fletcher
Summary: Spiff reaches his destination at last. But, of course, someone wants to stop him.
1. Default Chapter

I do not own any of the characters that appear in "Calvin and Hobbes."  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Calvin's mom thumped up the stairs. She had told Calvin to go clean up his room when she caught him stealing cookies from the jar. As she opened the door to his room, Calvin jumped up and tried to hide a large cardboard box behind him.  
  
"Aaagh! Mom, don't scare me like that!"  
  
"Calvin, I thought I told you to clean your room."  
  
"What?"  
  
"CLEAN YOUR ROOM!"  
  
"Mom, I'm not going to do it just because you tell me to!"  
  
Calvin's mom grabbed him by his shoulder. "You, young man, are going to do what I tell you to do."  
  
"And if I don't?"  
  
"Then consider your stuffed tiger taken away from you."  
  
"Uh… never mind Mom, I'll clean my room."  
  
"Good. Rosalyn's coming in a few minutes, so be sure the room is neat and tidy by then."  
  
"Okay… wait just a minute. Did you say ROSALYN?"  
  
"Yes, she is going to babysit you tonight."  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Calvin's scream could be still heard as his mom went downstairs and vacuumed the floor.  
  
In desperation, Calvin turned toward Hobbes, his tiger. "Hobbes, we're in big trouble!"  
  
"We? Who said anything about 'we'? You're the one who is going to be babysat."  
  
"Hobbes, you've gotta help me. If you do, I'll…I'll make you ten tuna fish sandwiches after Rosalyn leaves!"  
  
"Deal!" Hobbes exclaimed, already drooling at the thought of TEN tuna sandwiches.  
  
Calvin got serious. "Okay Hobbes, here's the thing. You scare Rosalyn from behind and try to get her to go in my time machine." Here, he paused briefly and patted the cardboard box, I mean his time machine, proudly. "Then, we'll get in with her. When we reach the year 2500, we'll drop her off and we'll come back!"  
  
"Good idea." Hobbes said, still thinking about the wonderful tuna sandwiches.  
  
Just then, the doorbell rang. "It's Rosalyn!" Calvin grinned evilly. Just then, he remembered something. "Wait. I forgot to change this box into a time machine. It's still the transmogifier!" He drew a line through the word 'Transmogrifier' that was written on the box and wrote underneath it, "Time Machine." Only, he forgot to erase the last letter in the word, 'transmogrifier…" Downstairs, Calvin's mom was welcoming Rosalyn into the house. "Rosalyn! Come in!"  
  
Soon, Calvin's parents went off in their car. Calvin ran down the stairs. "Hey Roz! Could you come upstairs for a minute?"  
  
Rosalyn looked at him suspiciously. "Listen, I'm busy tonight, so I don't want any of your dumb tricks."  
  
"Rosalyn, it's not a trick! I want to show you something! Please?"  
  
"Oh, fine." Rosalyn grunted and followed Calvin. Calvin looked around. Where was Hobbes? He said he'd scare Rosalyn from behind. That dirty double-crosser! I guess I'll have to do it myself. Calvin said, "Rosalyn, could you sit here? I'll bring you the surprise."  
  
"All right," Rosalyn said, puzzled. Calvin slowly brought the box from behind her.  
  
"GOTCHA!" Calvin clapped the large box over her and turned it upside down so that Rosalyn was riding in the box.  
  
"Why, you little brat!" Rosalyn yelled. "Why did you put me in this dirty old box?"  
  
Calvin did not answer and got in the box himself. Then he pressed a button. Rosalyn tried to get out, but just as she stood up, the box slid into hyperspace. The long tunnel stretched on and on, and the time machine sped through it. Rosalyn suddenly stood up. "Calvin, how dare you! Now I can't study for my exam tomorrow!" She stamped her foot.  
  
"Rosalyn, don't!" Calvin screamed, but it was too late. Rosalyn had broken through the masked tape that held the box together. As Calvin felt the box slowly collapse under him, he had only one thought… I hope Hobbes won't mind missing his sandwiches… 


	2. The Mission

I do not own any of the Calvin and Hobbes characters.  
  
  
  
It was dark. It was silent. Calvin could not feel anything. He blinked. Still, nothing but darkness. Calvin sat up. Slowly, the darkness began to fade away. His skin stopped tingling. When the darkness cleared, Calvin could not believe his eyes.  
  
He was in a red spaceship, about to land on a strange planet he had never seen before. His navigational radar showed that the planet was named Akyro. Half of the planet was green and lush, but the other half only consisted of red, jagged mountain ridges and deep valleys. In the rugged half of the planet, tall buildings and spaceports thrust into the sky like needles.  
  
"Wait." Calvin pinched himself to see if he was dreaming, expecting to touch the texture of his cotton shirt. Instead, his fingers felt a strange texture which was like plastic and cotton at the same time. His eyes were wide open as he glanced into the mirror and noticed that he was… Spaceman Spiff!  
  
Calvin danced with joy. "I'm the hero! I will defeat the evil empress of Malicitia! Haha!" Calvin screamed. Of course, the empress was his own imagination, or so he thought… he never knew that the empress actually existed in the planet he was approaching. Or that she was watching him right now. Or that she was sending a hologram of herself to him.  
  
As Calvin (will be called Spaceman Spiff from here on) pulled on the thrusters and slowed the ship down, static buzzed. Spiff turned around. In his ship was a hologram of the Empress. She had a blonde ponytail and looked suspiciously familiar, but Spiff had no time to think about that now. The Empress also wore a black robe. "Spaceman Spiff," she said, smirking. "I have tracked down your spaceship. My men are coming to destroy you. You will die!… or, you have another choice."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"You can choose to be my slave and help me in my task to take over the whole world. It is your choice. Now what is your answer?"  
  
Spiff glared at the hologram of the Empress. "Do your worst."  
  
The empress laughed evilly. "Fool! Now you will see my might and power! Hahahahahahaha!" With that, the hologram disappeared. Almost immediately, red dots began to appear on Spiff's radar. They were enemy ships! They were soon visible, coming out of the red side of the planet. The leading ship shot a beam of laser at Spiff's ship. Spiff pulled the controls and dodged.  
  
Streaks of blue, green, and red beams flashed around Spiff's ship as he frantically tried to land on the planet. Using his side lasers, he sent two of the enemy ships exploding in flames. The four ships that were left were hot on his trail as Spiff's ship entered the atmosphere of Akyro. Spiff fired his rear blasters and another one of the enemy ships burst into smoke.  
  
The enemy ships were closing in fast. Spiff set the speed lever to the top notch. The red spaceship went hurtling through Akyro's atmosphere. The enemy ships followed him but were blasted by his powerful lasers. Spiff could see the ground approaching fast. He now regretted that he had made his ship go this fast and pulled the speed lever back- but it was too late. Spiff lost consciousness again as a powerful impact shook the ship.  
  
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Spiff opened his eyes. He was in a small room, lying on a couch. Its glowing walls lighted the room. They radiated a strange humming noise. Suddenly, the door slid open and a man walked in.  
  
"I see you are awake, Spaceman Spiff. Or should I call you Mr. Spiff?"  
  
"'Spaceman Spiff'," Spiff mumbled groggily and got up with a groan. "Who are you anyway?"  
  
"I am General Williams of the army of Poloa."  
  
"Poloa? I thought this planet was called Akyro."  
  
"It is, but Akyro is divided into two halves. Poloa and Malicitia. Malicitia is trying to take over Poloa. We need your help in protecting our country."  
  
"All right. But I need to ask you one thing. Where is this?"  
  
"The Poloan Headquarters. I will leave you for now because you are still injured, so when you wake up look for me in the HQ lobby." He sprayed something into the room and went out. It crossed Spiff's mind that the spray was some sort of medicine, but he gave no more thought to it. Suddenly, Spiff felt as if he was floating… and fell into deep sleep again.  
  
When he awoke, Spiff felt refreshed. The pain in his arm and head were completely gone. He slid off the couch and walked toward the door. When he was in front of it, it slid open with a whirr. Outside the door was a long hallway. Its walls were made of the same glowing material, and a door was at the end of the hallway labeled in green shining letters, "Lobby." Two other doors were in the hallway but Spiff walked past them.  
  
In the lobby, Williams was sitting, looking at the main radar. As Spiff entered the room, he stood up. "Spaceman Spiff, our hopes are pretty slim. Malicitian ships are closing in, and our supplies are almost exhausted. Our only hope of surviving is if the Energy Generator in the Malicitian headquarters is shut off."  
  
"Energy Generator?"  
  
"Yes. It is sort of like a power station; only, it supplies power to all the ships and all the command centers of Malicitia. The Empress made it so that she won't use building space making all those power stations and transmission towers. So if the Energy Generator is shut down, they will lose all their power."  
  
"I see. And you want me to do it, correct?"  
  
"Well," Williams hesitated. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to, but that is our only way of winning."  
  
Spiff thought for a while. "I'll do it," he finally said.  
  
"Are you sure? It is dangerous. And the Energy Generator is located deep underground. The enemy headquarters is sort of built around it."  
  
"I'm Spaceman Spiff, hero and space explorer extraordinaire! If I don't do it, who will? Besides, I have a score to settle with Rosa… I mean the Empress."  
  
Williams' face brightened. "Thank you! Even if you fail, your deed will never be forgotten."  
  
"Yeah, they always say that sort of stuff. So when do I start?"  
  
"As soon as possible. We have fixed your spaceship."  
  
An hour later, Spiff got on his spaceship and sped toward the headquarters of Malicitia. It was a long flight around Akyro, but soon it was visible. Spiff gasped as the immense, menacing building came into view. He lowered the speed of his ship and prepared to land, but he found no place to land. As soon as he landed, he would be spotted. He flicked the "Stand By" switch that made the ship stop. It was the same as landing, only it was hovering high in the air. Then he used his jetpack and floated down to the red ground just behind a large rock formation. He hoped no one had seen him. Then, slowly, he started crawling toward the entrance of the Malicitian headquarters. The entrance was heavily guarded. On each side of the entrance were three androids, ready to shoot anyone who came too close. The door was a laser screen.  
  
Suddenly, an android's radar started beeping. He signaled the other androids. With their neutron blasters raised, four of them started walking toward the spot where Spiff was hiding. Spiff's heart skipped a beat. The androids were coming closer…  
  
  
  
  
  
R&R!!! 


	3. Into Enemy Lines

The guard robots started advancing toward Spiff. Suddenly, Spiff dashed out from behind the rock and ran around the robots. They turned immediately and started to follow him, firing their blasters.   
  
Finally, Spiff fell down on the ground as if he was hit. The robots all resumed their previous positions, except for one. It came closer to him, still suspicious if he was alive.   
  
As the robot came closer, Spiff quietly pulled his blaster from his pocket and fired once at the robot. The laser beam hit it right in the head' and it started to disintegrate.   
  
The other robots noticed.  
  
They started coming toward him again, their steel feet clanking on the ground. Spiff shot down all but one robot. Then he ran towards the laser wall that covered the entrance to the huge control building. He stood right in front of it, and the robot started dashing at him, shooting its laser gun. Spiff shot at its blaster. It clattered to the ground, but the robot still kept running at Spiff. When the robot was close enough, Spiff jumped to the side, and it crashed into the laser wall, turning into scrap metal immediately.  
  
The laser in the laser wall concentrated on the robot as it melted its body, and a large gap formed right above the spot. Spiff cautiously jumped through the opening.  
  
Spiff muttered. Some security system, Roz.  
  
He looked around. He was in a large room. In one end of the room was a monitor which watched many of the rooms in the building. Spiff knew that he was being monitored.  
  
In the other end of the room was an entrance to a long corridor which seemed to slope downwards, and another one which sloped upwards.  
  
Spiff went into the one which led to the lower level. The corridor was long and dark. It was lit by eerie red lights that were embedded in the translucent floor. As Spiff went further into the corridor, it became steeper, and soon it was too steep that he could hardly walk. He slid down the long hallway. Finally he came to a stop. Now he was in a room that contained a map of the entire control center.  
  
As he walked toward the map screen and tried to get a closer look, parts of the wall opened like a sliding panel and several guard robots on wheels rolled out.  
  
They had red eyebeams which they shot directly at Spiff. Spiff ducked out of the way just in time.   
  
There were seven guards in all. They were surrounding him, coming from all sides of the room.   
  
Spiff shot his blaster at the robot that was closest. It exploded, scattering scraps of his material everywhere.   
  
Ahother robot breathed poison at him. Spiff saw the green gas spurt out of its mouth and head in a straight line toward him. He quickly shot the poison robot down, but another was right behind him. Spiff dashed to the corner of the room.  
  
Spiff thought furiously. There were still five guards left, and they were surrounding him, approaching from all sides. He was cornered. If he took the time to shoot at one robot, then the other four would quickly get rid of him. In desperation, he grabbed the Demise-o-Bomb he kept in his belt and hurled it at the approaching guards. Its srong force blasted away two of the robots which crashed against the other three.   
  
Spiff heaved a sigh of relief. Then, to his horror, he noticed that the robots were starting to smoke. The black smoke started to fill the room. Spiff tried to find a way out, but the thick smoke made it impossible for him to see anything. He coughed and spat. His eyes smarted.  
  
Spiff groped around the wall, looking for a way out. Finally, his hands touched the sliding panel which had been used by one of the robots. He slid it open and ran inside, shutting the panel behind him. For now, he was safe.  
  
He was looking into another corridor which was shorter than the previous one. At the end of it was a chasm, and a platform floated over it that reached to the other side.  
  
Suddenly, an alarm started sounding on the other side of the shut panel. Spiff heard robots clanking into the room. Maybe he wasn't safe after all. Spiff ran through the corridor and soon was standing at the edge of the cliff. Spiff looked at his portable radar. It looked like he was more than a mile's height from the energy generator.   
  
He ran over the chasm and safely reached the other side.   
  
Spiff thought he heard the panel open. The robots had figured out which way he had gone. He ran as fast as he could into the maze of corridors that awaited him.  
  
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For a long time, Spiff wandered around the corridors, descended stairs, looked for more, went down to another floor...  
  
One thing had been troubling him for a long time. It seemed that from the time he crossed that chasm, somebody or someTHING had been following him. Spiff figured that it was one of the robots.   
  
It troubled him even more that the distance between him and his pursuer was slowly closing. He just hoped that he could reach the energy generator before it was too late and Poloa was destroyed.  
  
He explored more and slowly made progress. Soon, he came across a large room. It had controls and buttons on the door which Spiff could not figure out.  
  
He ignored them and went into the room. It was a huge room, and the roof was very high. He noticed that there was a platform floating at a very high level, connecting the two walls. This was the chasm that he had crossed before.  
  
Suddenly, Spiff thought he heard some footsteps. He looked at the radar again, and that small red spot on the radar was closer than he had hoped.   
  
Oh, great. That stupid guy is really getting on my nerves. Just like Hobbes.  
  
But, of course, it wasn't Hobbes... and it was getting closer and closer by the second.  
  
  
R&R!!!!  
Sorry this chapter is kinda short, but I'll make up for it in the next chapter or the one after.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. The Energy Generator

Disclaimer: I wish I did, but I do not own Calvin & Hobbes.

Author's Note: I haven't updated for... for a year?  I must be out of my mind.  Sorry about the short chapter.

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It was the fifth day since he had entered the base.  His food and water supplies were nearly depleted.  The red spot on the radar was closer to him than ever.  Spiff guessed that his pursuer was no more than half a kilometer behind him.  Spiff had not rested ever since he spotted them on his radar.  He felt weary, and everything around him seemed to swim and shift shapes.  His legs felt like lead from the constant running.  He shook his head and finished the last of the coffee in the bottle.  Now he had only water left.

Suddenly, Spiff skidded to a halt.  He was at a dead end.  The only thing in the dim room was a pipe sticking out of the west wall of the room, marked "Energy Generator Exhaust Pipe".

Spiff quickly rubbed his eyes.  This was what he had been waiting for.  He grabbed the pipe and lifted himself in.  The tube was large enough for him to crawl into.  Before he inhaled any of the exhaust fumes in, he grabbed his mask and put it on.  Then he started.  The pipe stretched on and on.  The farther he went, the hotter it got.  Soon, his hands were red from the heat of the pipe.  Suddenly, a throbbing, mechanical noise became faintly audible.  He was nearing the Energy Generator.  The noise got larger as he went.  Suddenly, the pipe slanted into a steep slope leading downwards.  Thankfully, Spiff sat down and slid down the pipe.  The pipe abruptly came to an end, and Spiff was thrown into a huge chamber lit with an eerie red glow.

This was the core of the Energy Generator.  The chamber was circular, and the walls were all made of some sort of heat-resistant alloy.  In the center of the room was a large, deep pit.  Numerous pipes and wires led down to the bottom of the pit where they joined into a huge, spinning drill-like tube embedded deep below the crust of the planet into the dangerous gas layer below.  This gas was the source of the red light in the room.

Spiff stared speechlessly for a while, but soon came back to himself and took out his last Demise-o-Bomb.  He was about to throw it down into the shaft... when someone or something leaped at him from behind and knocked him to the hard floor.  Spiff rolled over to see Rosalyn standing over him, hate burning in her eyes.  "You fool," she said in a soft, deadly voice.  "You really thought you could immobilize my base this easily?"

Spiff got on his feet and clipped the Demise-o-Bomb to his belt again, grabbing his blaster.  He aimed and shot.

Rosalyn quickly deflected it with the flare shield that spurted from her blaster and shot back.  Spiff ducked quickly enough.  This went on until Rosalyn, exasperated, flung her blaster away and leaped at him again, sweeping his legs out from under him.  As he fell, the Demise-o-Bomb fell from his belt and rolled away toward the pit.  Oblivious, the two struggled.  

The bomb seemed to stop at the brink, but a sudden spasm of the generator sent it rolling again.  The bomb clinked down into the deep shaft, hitting against the wall occasionally.

Still, Spiff and Rosalyn took no notice.

Then, determined to destroy the Energy Generator, Spiff groped for his bomb on his belt.  He only felt the plastic feel of the belt.  Escaping the steel grip of Rosalyn on his collar, he ran towards the shaft.  The red glow of the gas had turned yellow.  Rosalyn grabbed her blaster again and shot at him.  She barely missed.

Spiff turned toward her and attacked her again, his "Calvin" side winning over his sensible side.  And all the time, the Energy Generator was slowly falling apart.

TO BE CONTINUED

R&R!!!!!


End file.
